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Info Absolution (Summary - List of stories) . The Wounded Hawk << previous act | Act 3 of 4 | next act >> Kin And Kindred << previous chapter |''' Chapter 23 of 39 | next chapter >> << previous scene | '''Scene 2 of 2 | next scene >> Summary * Location: *Participants: *Time: *Summary: Text The mottled white monster crawled slowly along the clifftop through the snow, giggling quietly to himself as he licked his lips eagerly. Down below, four Strange Ones in cloaks were striding calmly through the narrow gorge that led to what had once been a prison cave, and now served as a storage cell to the enormous, infected hive that had grown through these poisoned mountains. On the outside, though, everything looked the same: sure, the Strange One village was in shambles, and the once-beacons of the bonfires had burned down to nothing but ashes that had been swallowed up beneath the powdery snow... but apart from the wreckage, at a distance it looked almost the same as it always had. There were no visible signs of Cancer's presence, or of his lovely wife's... Cancer had been very careful to make sure of that. Other Strange Ones had been regularly showing up all winter: they seemed to know that something was wrong out here somehow, but weren't quite sure of what it was. Either that, or they were just stupid and suicidal, and Cancer didn't really care which it was. All he knew was that they were providing lovely meals for himself and Griselda... and their ever-growing family. But it was a lot of mouths to feed, and Cancer was only glad that he didn't have to worry about shoving food down the little snots' throats too often: instead, they had one big meal or two while they quickly grew up big and strong, then went down for a long nap in one of the other hollowed-out caves. Oh, they had been lucky! The mountainous region beyond the Strange One village was just a mess of empty caverns and hidden chambers and secret places likely made by the Strange Ones. And there had been a few more caged up nasties... but since Cancer already had his lovely wife, he had just made good, delicious meals of these unfortunates instead of bothering with infecting them. Griselda – he had already forgotten her actual name – was parked back in what had clearly once been some kind of enormous underground cemetery that the Strange Ones had built. She had made a feast of the corpses she had been able to tear out of the ground and crypts, and it had delighted Cancer. She was primal, vicious, ever-hungry and in a state of semi-hibernation, surrounded by her children, surrounded by eggs and slime and wax and flesh. She was getting stronger and more beautiful every single day, and oh, how eager he was to ride her all the way to the white weasel... But the cold had slowed them both down: at night, and when the temperature plummeted, Griselda fell into a deep sleep: she wasn't able to move much, and just getting her out of the prison cave and back into the mountains had been difficult enough... and Cancer spat to the side at this thought, muttering: "Moving her fat ass was no small feat. Nothin' about her be small anymore. Gonna have to be patient, oh yes, oh yes... gonna have to wait. But waiting will make it sweeter, 'cause the longer we wait, the bigger our family..." He licked his teeth slowly, then looked down into the narrow pass below, before giggling as the Strange Ones turned to the prison cave, apparently not noticing or caring about the strange heat emanating from within, nor the dark mosses growing here and there along the stone. Then again, they didn't seem to even notice or care about the fleshy, slimy substances that grew all over the deeper regions of the cave... they only started reacting and recognizing something was wrong when... Animal shrieks rose up out of the cavern, and Cancer sighed dreamily as he dropped his muzzle in his front hooves, listening to the sound of primal screaming and raging that echoed up out of the cave tunnel with a look of delight on his mottled features. He shifted a bit in the snow, then huffed to himself as he realized pieces of his body were beginning to freeze, so he hurriedly scuttled forwards and scurried down the rock wall of the cliff like an enormous, mutant bug, his red eyes glowing as he muttered: "Do I ever hate this cold, though... and I'm gonna have to figure out me a way to get to that stupid little village, take a look-see around there... yeah, yeah, I wanna make them know I'm a-comin', after all, I wanna make 'em scared, so scared, they bring all the pretties to one place... the white weasel, the zombie, the demons and that punk kid who thinks he's king dung beetle, sittin' on his throne of crap and garbage. Yeah... gonna take me my time with him, ooh yeah..." Cancer grumbled to himself as reached the ground, then turned down the trench and strode towards the front, ignoring the crunching and strange roars echoing up out of the tunnel behind him. They no longer held his attention as his mind drifted angrily through schemes of revenge and tilted, shadowy memories, growling under his breath before he stepped out of the narrow pass and into the snow-strewn field in front of the once-village he had taken over and destroyed. He sat back, looking grumpily up at the dark sky and the setting sun, and then he shook his head out before tapping a hoof against the frosted ground. For a few moments, he only thought, even as coldness began to spread up through his body... but the monster had become not only arrogant, but fearless out here. Even if he froze solid – as he had on more than one occasion – either his sweet little babies would come out and rescue him, or he would thaw the next time the sun came out and shined on down on him, the monster often continuing to just sit and think like nothing had happened. Cancer licked his lips slowly, then he spat to the side before shivering and shaking himself violently, raising his internal body heat as his fleshy form rippled violently and heated up. Then he winced as he heard an echoing, almost-mournful roar, and he sighed tiredly, slumping visibly... then a moment later, that roar came again, and Cancer's head twisted almost backwards on his shoulders as he screamed: "Will you give me a goddamn minute to myself, you crazy needy stupid fat lady!" There was silence for a few moments, and then another roar, and Cancer groaned, rolling his eyes before his body spun around almost like a top to match the position his head was in, beginning to storm forwards and back down the path as he called tiredly: "Coming, dearie, oh, I'm coming, rotten apple of my eye. Don't you go tying yourself up in knots now, sweetie-pie, big daddy's comin' to give mommy her tender kiss goodnight..." The whole world around him rumbled as a hiss echoed through the air, but Cancer barely paid attention to this, grumbling under his breath. Griselda had extended her reach down deep into the ground and all through these mountains, and the living hive itself worked to feed her eagerly. Her children – those who had grown large and strong enough to survive the cold – hunted for her as well, as did Cancer when he felt like it. But Griselda needed him to survive, too: needed his presence, needed to be exposed regularly to his poisons, needed to be 'refueled,' so to speak. Except he knew she was greedy, too... she was more and more becoming a raw animal, but that animal hungered for two things: food and power. And he was the catalyst that made her stronger... "I ain't blind to it, baby, and I ain't saying it's a bad quality or nothin', sweetie, but still. It's annoying as hell." Cancer muttered, then he licked his own lips slowly, adding meditatively: "Still, I'd do the same thing myself, so I guess I ain't so much one to talk. And as long as you remember your place, well, I'll give you all the munchies you want..." A rumble tore through the mountains as Cancer reached what looked like the end of the path, where the cliffs on either side of the gorge converged into one jumbled, messy wall... but Cancer didn't even slow down, his body rippling as he slipped like living syrup into a large crack in the wall, twisting slowly through the narrow, zigzagging passage. He felt a distinct rumble pass through the rock passage, and Cancer grunted irritably before he poured out the other side and into a wide stone tunnel like a waterfall of disease, forming a puddle that lazily laid for a few moments on a warm patch of stone. Then a rumble echoed around him again, and Cancer's head pushed up from the muck, groaning before he shouted irritably: "I said I was comin', didn't I? Will you give me five minutes to get to you, honeybuns, it's a long damn walk and I swear I'll give you all the kisses you want when I get there!" The voice rumbled again, sounding almost worried and yet affectionate, and Cancer sighed... then the puddle burst upwards, transforming quickly back into the creature as he popped to his hooves and said with a grumble despite his suddenly-tender smile: "Oh, I just can't stay mad at you... mad as hell as that makes me. Fine, sweetie, fine... look, I know. I'll sing away the tears and the blues, honey, how about I do that?" There was another rumble that shook the wide tunnel Cancer was now striding down, and the creature grinned to himself as he nodded a little, saying soothingly: "Exactly, babe... exactly! Yeah, you should know that you never gotta fret, silly... big daddy Cancer, he's always got your back. Warts and pustules and eyes and all, sweetie, he loves every little part of you... 'cept, well, there ain't much of you that's little no more." He laughed, shaking his head and smiling lovingly as he began to walk over a green, red and black, flesh-like substance that had spread over the surfaces of the tunnel here, and only grew thicker and larger the deeper he went into the passage, with strange, pulsating tumors here and there in the gunk. Cancer sighed in delight, feeling heat and warmth and sickness throbbing up out of the webbing before he began to hum softly, tilting his head back and forth as he continued down the long passage, eyes glowing in the darkness. The only light came from strange pustules here and there in the webbing itself, glowing with ill, trapped green fire. It made the atmosphere feel strangely, deliciously romantic to the monster, as he licked his lips before singing in a coy, teasing voice: .'' ''"Oh, honey, you know that I love you so much... so deep... Even when I lose my temper, oh, your touch... makes my heart leap... Oh honey honey, baby doll, I wanna make you... all mine... You know that what I say is only the truth... I think you're real fine..." .'' There was a loud, pleased rumble at this, and Cancer grinned widely, leaning forwards and adding in a teasing, playful voice: "Oh, well, don't you worry dollface, 'cause I'm just gettin' started on telling you how... ''. You're my favorite disease! You're my most delightful disgrace! You're a poisonous breeze! You're a curse on the pony-wony race! Hey, hey, oh... ba-da, do-dop, oh whoa ho-oh... You're the raven dressed out in black! You're the curse on the innocent's head! You're the fever, the chills that wrack! You're the one who's gonna make 'em all dead! Ha-ha! Yeah, yeah, yeah! Ha ha ho ho hoo hee hee haw, wha-cha da da-doodle, dah..." .'' There was a loud roar that shook the cave, as if in approval, tinged with pleasure, and Cancer threw his head back and laughed as he cried: "Oh, finally, someone who appreciates my fine music! Yeah, honey, it's what I wrote for you, 'cause it's all true, true, true!" He grinned wider, his eyes glowing in the darkness as he followed the passage around a corner, almost strutting now as he let his head bob back and forth, singing delightedly: ''. "Oh! You and me are gonna go far, we're not gonna give up, we're gonna be the stars, You and me are gonna make it to the top, we're gonna kill 'em all, 'cause ain't no one can stop... Cancer, Cancer, I'm Cancer honey, and you're my sweet missus darling, you're the Mrs. Cancer too! We're a plague, a disease, a wretched blood curse, we're gonna beat 'em all black and blue! And when we're done, we're gonna eat 'em up, we're gonna crunch 'em like candy between our teeth, Oh Mrs. Cancer, I promise you this, 'cause you and me are at the top of the food chain... and they are... .'' beneath." Cancer rumbled hungrily, as he slowly licked his teeth and shivered in delight. He heard the monstrous Griselda rumble in agreement from the cave ahead, as he walked over hot, fleshy webbing, past enormous, thick cables of the same horrible substance that looked like immense veins, pumping slime and poison through them both into the massive cavern beyond and out of it, to further fuel the spread of their hive. And here and there, Cancer's own white and mottled ooze had spread over the walls, mixing with awful, poisonous kinship into the netting and webbing of hive. Here and there, broken pieces of stone monument still stood around the hive, broken stone guardians that diseased and dying Strange Ones and a few Nibelung and other creatures were bound to by strings of fleshy rope and gooey slime. This enormous burial ground had become the perfect home for the destruction entity and his so-called wife... and slowly, Cancer grinned as his eyes roved upwards, over the massive, monstrous silhouette of the entity that towered in the center of the room, larger than a dragon and breathing hungrily as the mottled white creature slowly approached. ''. "Oh my sweet, my beautiful, my big bad girl... I'm so glad we decided to give it a whirl... Together we're better than we ever were apart, ooh, you fill me up honey, warm my dark heart! Oh whoa, whoa oh ho ho... I ain't never felt this way about no one before... Oh no, no, whoa whoa oh... you make feel like I got somethin' to fight for... Yeah, yeah, hear me my sweet, destruction is our purpose, for you and me! The body ain't nothin' but a lock, and we're the ones with a skeleton key... .'' ''Oh baby, baby, do you hear my voice? We'll be together forever, you're my girl, and I'm your boy, 'Cause there ain't no greater purpose in our lives than to reach out and destroy, destroy, destroy, 'Cause you and me, will always be, the makers of death's latest and greatest and coolest toy, And oh there's no greater pleasure than when we move forwards with our latest ploy, To thrill 'em, to kill 'em, to spill their blood... to destroy! .'' ''Kill, kill, kill... destroy! Kill, kill, kill... destroy! Kill, kill kill... destroy! That's our job, honey-child of mine... in a single word, our job, our life's work... is to... destroy!" . Cancer threw his head back and laughed long and loud, and before him, the enormous monster that had once been Chrysalis roared in delight and agreement, as all around her smaller, hideous shapes buzzed their wings and looked up with hisses of agreement, wretched, soulless eyes glowing with unquestioning servitude to the mottled white monster and his horrific bride. And Cancer grinned widely as he dropped his head forwards, red eyes flashing brightly as he whispered: "That's real good honey, sweetie, lovey-dovey baby-pie. Yeah... yeah, you and me, oh, we're gonna have us some fun soon enough. Now come on, lean on back so Cancer can go give you a big delicious kiss and put you to bed, baby, safe and sound inside your shell... and when you wake up, I'm gonna feed you a good home-cooked meal, and we're gonna cuddle, and then my growing girl can take her vitamins so she gets bigger and stronger... 'cause oh, just you wait and see, baby. Just you wait and see. "Ain't gonna be long now, sweetie, before you and me pay the ponies a little visit..." Cancer grinned, looking up and licking his teeth slowly as he gazed into the eyes of Griselda, which gazed down at him with servile, glowing green eyes filled with lust for power, and loyalty to the living disease that had enslaved her. "And we're gonna have us a great, grand ol' party when we get there, the kind that ain't never gonna be forgotten. "And then, honey..." Cancer reached slowly up as the monster leaned down, touching her snout as he half-lidded his fiery red eyes. "We'll move on to the main course, once I've taken care of a few little nasties who need a spanking... and you and me are gonna devour this whole world whole." And in the darkness of the cave, Cancer laughed, joined by the eager growl of the monstrosity he had created... and in this wretched place, it seemed not like a wild dream, but a terrible and unstoppable promise for the future. Category:Transcript Category:Story